Filipino Essentials, Right Down the Street

DANNY'S TINDAHAN IN NORTHWEST WASHINGTON

It's possible you have whizzed past Danny's Tindahan several times without knowing it since the little Filipino-Japanese grocery store opened last September near Wisconsin Avenue and Van Ness Street in Northwest. That's perhaps because it's nestled in a row of nondescript brick structures that look more like apartment buildings, or perhaps because of its smallish sign out front.

But if you're on the hunt for exotic ingredients you remember fondly from a stint in the Philippines -- or if you're a Filipino immigrant who misses the tastes of home -- this is the place to make those memories a reality. "This is the only place in D.C. where they can find the food that the taste buds long for," says Nelly Oriño, who owns the store with husband Danny.

The couple, who moved here from the Philippines in 1983, have strong ties to both the Filipino and Japanese communities (Danny worked in the Japanese embassy), as evidenced by the warm hugs Nelly gives several customers who are also friends.

One such friend is Tita Remonte, who counts on the store to supply her with some ingredients she views as cooking essentials. Filipinos "cannot escape a day without vinegar," Remonte says. "It is believed to help digest the food and lower cholesterol."

If she's looking for vinegar, she's in the right place. Danny's stocks vinegars ($1.18 to $1.82) made from coconuts and sugar cane, as well as those jazzed up with garlic, onion and hot peppers. The store's two aisles are also lined with 25-pound bags of jasmine rice ($12.85 to $12.99), jars of purple yam jam ($1.75 to $1.85), sweetened beans that are used in a Filipino dessert ($1.45), fish and barbecue sauces (85 cents to $3.05), a banana sauce that is used like ketchup (85 cents to $1.25), strips of colored agar-agar to be made into "natural Jell-O" ($1.10 to $1.35), and cans of taro (95 cents) and jackfruit ($1.29).

But what fly off the shelves the fastest are the snacks and convenience foods. Nelly Oriño says her nanny customers often get their charges hooked on SkyFlakes ($4.35), a cracker that's like an extra-buttery saltine. Then there are crunchy corn snacks called Boy Bawang (89 cents), tangy-sweet dried mango strips ($1.65), and bowls of microwaveable noodles ($1.05).

"I was actually surprised that I could order [these snacks] wholesale, because these are things that we haven't tasted for years and years," she says.

Danny's Tindahan, 4115 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Call 202-244-7221, or e-maildannystindahan@aol.com.

-- Rina Rapuano

Freelance writer Rina Rapuano last wrote for Food about ShoeBox Oven at the farmers market in Arlington.